Groups team up to bid for Lafarge-Holcim assets, sources say

Companies are teaming up to bid for all the assets that Lafarge and Holcim must sell in order to carry out their planned merger, says an article on Reuters.

According to sources, Irish cement maker CRH has teamed up with Cemex to explore a bid on all of the duo’s assets. In addition to this, sources  say that Germany’s HeidelbergCement and Brazilian firm Votorantim Cimentos SA are also exploring a bid for the entire portfolio.

Representatives for Cemex, Heidelberg Cement and CRH declined to comment, and no one was available for comment at Votorantim Cimientos.

Between the two companies, the assets could be valued anywhere between 4 billion and 7 billion euros, says the article. However, because competition regulators in 15 countries are considering the deal, the companies have a combined stock market value of more than $55 billion, adds the article.

Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Holding also plans to bid for some of the assets, in addition to at least four consortia of private equity firms, sources say.